Health care hard to come by for transgender people outside urban areas

By Kate Moser / California Health Report

In seeking medical care, transgender Californians routinely face a number of challenges, particularly in more rural regions, where they often live their lives under the radar. Photo by David Bacon

Nick McDaniel lives within a couple of miles of the sites of some of his worst memories.

Growing up in the farming community of Salinas, McDaniel, a transgender man, survived sexual assault and years of severe depression, multiple attempts at suicide, and many months spent in county psychiatric wards.

Life may have improved in places like Monterey County for transgender people, McDaniel said, but there's still a long way to go – from fighting discrimination in jobs and housing, to making inroads in health care.

In seeking medical care, transgender Californians routinely face a number of challenges, particularly in more rural regions, where they often live their lives under the radar.

"I do think in Monterey County, like in most areas, the needs of transgender people are not well-recognized," said Jennifer Hastings, a family practice physician who started a Transgender Health Care Program at the Westside Planned Parenthood in Santa Cruz in 2005.

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